Executive Summary

Ad blocking has grown beyond a mere niche phenomenon. eMarketer estimates that about one-quarter of US internet users were employing ad blockers as of the end of 2016. But the practice remains skewed toward desktop/laptop computers and is less common on smartphones.

The percentage of people using ad blockers is growing at a significant rate, though blocking established much of its presence earlier in the decade. eMarketer expects three in 10 internet users will be using blockers by the end of 2018.

Desktops/laptops—rather than smartphones—are the main venue for ad blocking. The proportion of desktop/laptop internet users who deploy blockers is more than twice as large as the proportion of smartphone users who do so. (However, as noted below, our definition of ad blocking excludes some smartphone actions that can have the effect of screening out ads a user might otherwise receive, even though this does not fall into the technical category of ad blocking.)

Unsurprisingly, younger people are more likely than their elders to use ad blockers. But the younger also conduct much of their digital activity on smartphones (where ad blocking is less feasible), which likely limits the amount of blocking that occurs in their typical digital day.

Ad blocking is still in a volatile stage, and it is possible that some sudden advance in technology could greatly alter the rate of blocker adoption by consumers.

"As ad blocking grows, the saving grace for advertisers is that it remains less common on mobile devices, where blocking technology is less effective than it is on PCs. This year, 28.2% of desktop/laptop internet users will use ad blockers, vs. 11.8% of smartphone users."